Preparation of Polish nurses for managerial roles in healthcare organizations

Since the beginning of the 20th century the role of nurses in Poland has evolved significantly: from care-takers and orderlies, through nurses (first, with secondary education only, currently with higher education), to performing management functions (that is ward nurses, nursing officers, chief nurses and even directors or deputy directors of organizational units in the healthcare sector). It should be underlined that with the increase of the importance of the role and functions of nurses, the expectations as to the qualifications of this professional group keep increasing as well. In accordance to the law, nurses are obliged to update their knowledge with various types of post-graduate education, that is in specialization trainings, qualification courses, specialist courses and trainings. It is worth considering here the perspectives for professional promotion of nurses in the structures of healthcare organizations in Poland. What qualifications, experience, competencies and skills do they need to perform managerial functions in healthcare organizations? Does the system of post-graduate education provide them with suitable possibilities of preparing to perform a managerial function? With respect to the abovementioned questions, the main aim of the article is to present the existing forms of education in Poland that prepare nurses to perform managerial functions in healthcare organizations. The research consisted in a desk-analysis of data, that is of official and commonly accessible documents and information concerning education of nurses within management sciences. The conclusions coming from the analysis of the research results have allowed for the formulation of recommendations directed at decision-makers within the area of nurses’ continuing education. The conducted research has also allowed for the formulation of specific recommendations for management professionals and for the professional group of nurses. This paper may also be of particular interest for researchers who investigate into the issue of continuing education and professional development of nurses.